in Triple Crown Articles

Betting on winner of the Kentucky Derby, but it may help you make a large enough wager to brag about.

In the "old days," passing a race was pretty much unheard of. Before simulcasting came into our lives, we went out to the track, sat through a nine or ten race card and went home after betting every race.

It was 25 minutes in between races and, with no other action, it was not much fun skipping a race and waiting nearly an hour to make another wager.

Things changed greatly with the addition of simulcasting and online betting. We went from looking at a nine-race card at one track to being able to wager on a couple of dozen tracks or more each day. It was sort of like living in a dream world filled with nothing but horses and horseplayers. But, for many horseplayers, heaven turned to hell, as players began firing with both hands at numerous tracks from noon until midnight.

As horseplayers, we have to decide between action and profits. It has become very important to know when to skip a race and have the discipline to do so.

Here are some hints for surviving in the online sports betting world:

Limit the Tracks You Play
Stick with what you know best. Play your home track and pick up one other circuit. Playing two tracks a day gives you a sampling of around 18-20 races to handicap. Going beyond two tracks can really spread yourself and your bankroll thin.

Pick Your Spots
If you have 20 races to handicap, you should be able to come up with two or three races where you have a strong opinion. I would then separate the remaining races into three categories:

1. Races you feel are good betting races.
2. Races you feel are less than ideal, unless you can find a good overlay.
3. Races you have little or no opinion on, or races you are most likely to skip entirely.

To place the races in their proper category you need to know your strengths and weaknesses as a handicapper. If you struggle with maiden races or two year old races, skip them. If turf races are not your specialty, stick with the dirt races.

This is where good record keeping can come in handy. Keep track of the types of races you win most often with, and the types of races where you struggle.

It sounds pretty simple and elementary, but you would be surprised how few horseplayers keep records and know their true strengths and weaknesses.

Manage Your Bankroll
The best handicapper in the world can be a losing player if he does not manage his bankroll. Another simple suggestion most horseplayers don't follow: wager more on the two or three races you have the strongest opinion on, and less on the rest of the races. Sounds so simple but so few follow it.

This is where discipline comes in. There are going to be days when the races in which you have the strongest opinion do not pan out. And you might watch a couple of horses you like come home first in races where you decided to take a pass.

There will undoubtedly be days like that. What you have to remember is that you are in it for the long haul. Let's try to come out at the end of the week with your bankroll being in the black. Then work on getting that bankroll in the black for the month. Then the year.

What too many horseplayers do when things are not going their way is try to get it back late in the day. Don't try to get back even for the day by betting races you don't have strong opinions on. It's much better for your bankroll to start handicapping for the next day. If you stick with what you know best, you still will have short losing streaks, it's inevitable. There is no sense in making the problem worse by losing money on races you should be skipping.

Be Disciplined
It's simple really. It comes down to whether or not you want to be a profitable horseplayer. Only about 5% of horseplayers are consistently in the black. A higher percentage would have a chance of making a profit in this game if they just focus on their strengths, and show enough discipline to know when not to play a race.

Stick with what you do best and in the long term it could lead to being a more successful horseplayer and bettor.

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