lurker
05-14-2004, 05:59 PM
There have been some recent postings regarding offshore racebooks and there benefits and drawbacks. I thought that I might review the 3 largest of them for you. I am sure that some of the forum members are getting offers from them. I have played at all 3 in the past 2 years.
e horse
E horse is one of the oldest of the offshore racebooks. They offer rebates of between 2 and 5 %of weekly handle with no exclusions of show bets or $2.20 or $2.10 returns. They have 2 innovative products . The first is a betting exchange where you can wager on horses to lose. The second is the e horse quinella which pays for any combo of horses finishing first, second or third.They pay 275-1 on w-p-s and 300-1 on all others. Unknown max payout to a race.
e horse good features:
rebates on all horse bets ( show and $2.20-$2.10)
betting exchange
e horse "q"
$25,000 derby contest
easy interface
closes races when the track closes
easy to use interface
rebate 2-5%
e horse bad features:
no sign up bonus
no reload bonus
lower limits than pinnacle or tcbets
lower rebate level than pinnacle or tcbets
not as many tracks as pinnacle or tcbets
rumors of co mingling winning players wagers
no pick3's pick 4's superfectas
Pinnacle
Pinnacle's racebook is relatively new. They offer a straight 7% rebate (no sliding scale).This is for internet wagers only. Phone wagers receive no rebate. Their track selection is provided by IAS from Austrailia . They rank their tracks by total amount available to win. Small tracks have a cap of $5000, medium $15,000, large $25000-$50000. Their wagering system is relatively easy to navigate. Matchups are offered on several races each day.
Pinnacle good features:
straight 7% rebate (place and show included, but no minus pools )
no cap per wager, but rather per track type
horse matchups
one account for both horses and sports
large limits ( higher than e horse and sometimes higher than tcbets)
pick3, pick4 and superfectas available
sometimes a sign up bonus
Pinnacle bad features:
No rebate for phone wagers(bad if you are playing from the track)
no phone customer service(they only take e mail requests)
some tracks are not available every day
no reload bonus
they practice "risk management" which means that your bets may be comingled
occasionally the software locks out races too early
tcbets:
Tcbets has been around for a couple of years.Tcbets offers sign up bonuses(which are sometimes as high as 20%) and relaod bonuses. They offer just a few more tracks than Pinnacle and e horse. Their rebate levels scale from 2-7%. Show bets do not receive rebates. Their software locks out internet wagers about 1 minute before post time. They pay full track odds on w-p-s and 300-1 on all other bets.For big races they offer matchups. Max payout for all tracks is $25000.
tcbets good features:
sign up bonus
reload bonus
over 100 tracks
high limits
pick3, pick4, superfectas available
rebate 2-7%
tcbets bad features:
no rebate on show wagers (available at e horse and pinnacle)
software locks out 1 minute before post on the web
max win of $25000 for event days (pinnacle goes higher)
Thats my brief analysis of the 3 major offshore wagering sites. I hope that it helps you select the right one. Of course if you will only wager into a pari-mutuel pool than this has been all for naught. I feel that with a non pari-mutuel rebate shop that my odds of winning in the long run are greatly improved. Good luck on this weekends racing.
e horse
E horse is one of the oldest of the offshore racebooks. They offer rebates of between 2 and 5 %of weekly handle with no exclusions of show bets or $2.20 or $2.10 returns. They have 2 innovative products . The first is a betting exchange where you can wager on horses to lose. The second is the e horse quinella which pays for any combo of horses finishing first, second or third.They pay 275-1 on w-p-s and 300-1 on all others. Unknown max payout to a race.
e horse good features:
rebates on all horse bets ( show and $2.20-$2.10)
betting exchange
e horse "q"
$25,000 derby contest
easy interface
closes races when the track closes
easy to use interface
rebate 2-5%
e horse bad features:
no sign up bonus
no reload bonus
lower limits than pinnacle or tcbets
lower rebate level than pinnacle or tcbets
not as many tracks as pinnacle or tcbets
rumors of co mingling winning players wagers
no pick3's pick 4's superfectas
Pinnacle
Pinnacle's racebook is relatively new. They offer a straight 7% rebate (no sliding scale).This is for internet wagers only. Phone wagers receive no rebate. Their track selection is provided by IAS from Austrailia . They rank their tracks by total amount available to win. Small tracks have a cap of $5000, medium $15,000, large $25000-$50000. Their wagering system is relatively easy to navigate. Matchups are offered on several races each day.
Pinnacle good features:
straight 7% rebate (place and show included, but no minus pools )
no cap per wager, but rather per track type
horse matchups
one account for both horses and sports
large limits ( higher than e horse and sometimes higher than tcbets)
pick3, pick4 and superfectas available
sometimes a sign up bonus
Pinnacle bad features:
No rebate for phone wagers(bad if you are playing from the track)
no phone customer service(they only take e mail requests)
some tracks are not available every day
no reload bonus
they practice "risk management" which means that your bets may be comingled
occasionally the software locks out races too early
tcbets:
Tcbets has been around for a couple of years.Tcbets offers sign up bonuses(which are sometimes as high as 20%) and relaod bonuses. They offer just a few more tracks than Pinnacle and e horse. Their rebate levels scale from 2-7%. Show bets do not receive rebates. Their software locks out internet wagers about 1 minute before post time. They pay full track odds on w-p-s and 300-1 on all other bets.For big races they offer matchups. Max payout for all tracks is $25000.
tcbets good features:
sign up bonus
reload bonus
over 100 tracks
high limits
pick3, pick4, superfectas available
rebate 2-7%
tcbets bad features:
no rebate on show wagers (available at e horse and pinnacle)
software locks out 1 minute before post on the web
max win of $25000 for event days (pinnacle goes higher)
Thats my brief analysis of the 3 major offshore wagering sites. I hope that it helps you select the right one. Of course if you will only wager into a pari-mutuel pool than this has been all for naught. I feel that with a non pari-mutuel rebate shop that my odds of winning in the long run are greatly improved. Good luck on this weekends racing.