How to bet

[Oaklawn]

Do most of you here bet horses to win or win/place when the odds are say 3/1 to 10/1? I was wondering what the best approach is. I seem to pick a good contender that gets nipped by a nose (Race 8 today at CD I had the 10 who was the unfortunate recipient). I was kicking myself for not betting a win/place ticket, even though that doubles my investment in the race. At 8/1 the horse would have paid 19.20 or so with around 9.20 to place and at with a $4.00 investment that's still pretty good ROI.

I realize that take or breakage or whatever severely reduces profits on place and show bets of "longshots" (whatever odds may be called longshots), so I bet to win, but I need to amend that to win/place bets I think. What do you do?

[fmolf]

Do most of you here bet horses to win or win/place when the odds are say 3/1 to 10/1? I was wondering what the best approach is. I seem to pick a good contender that gets nipped by a nose (Race 8 today at CD I had the 10 who was the unfortunate recipient). I was kicking myself for not betting a win/place ticket, even though that doubles my investment in the race. At 8/1 the horse would have paid 19.20 or so with around 9.20 to place and at with a $4.00 investment that's still pretty good ROI.

I realize that take or breakage or whatever severely reduces profits on place and show bets of "longshots" (whatever odds may be called longshots), so I bet to win, but I need to amend that to win/place bets I think. What do you do?
a good strategy to use if you like to protect against finishing second is to use your horse on the bottom of an exacta with the other one or two logical contenders ...this strategy is called"the exacta as a place bet".. it will get you better prices than a straight place bet will.... i do not bet to place my records indicate to me that i am better off just putting the extra money into my win bet over the long run this works out better for me...i do use the exacta to hedge my win bets usually with longer shots than 3/1..at least 8/1 to use on the bottom ...all lower odds horses i go for a big score with straight win bets and my horse on top exactas!

[green80]

I think that you will find that in the long run, you will be money ahead betting win only. It's tough to miss those long priced place horses, but after a long period of record keeping, I think you will find that win only will return the highest roi.

[arno]

It's human nature to remember the longshots we forget to play to place.

However, any one who keeps detailed records will show it is not a smart investment to play to place.

[Tampa Russ]

My records show the same. Bet to win, forget the place. I do like the suggestion of using the exacta with your horse in the place hole. I don't do that simply because I try and cover so many tracks at once. But I can certainly see the validity in the exacta bet.

[fmolf]

My records show the same. Bet to win, forget the place. I do like the suggestion of using the exacta with your horse in the place hole. I don't do that simply because I try and cover so many tracks at once. But I can certainly see the validity in the exacta bet.
every once in awhile i catch a nice payoff...try it it does work especially when making a substantial win bet....a 5dollar exacta as place bet can cover the win bet a lot of times

[ranchwest]

I like playing a horse where I think it can finish, but win bets tend to be better than place over the long haul.

That being said, on days when I have a big smile on my face you can be pretty sure I was betting supers.

[raybo]

I like playing a horse where I think it can finish, but win bets tend to be better than place over the long haul.

That being said, on days when I have a big smile on my face you can be pretty sure I was betting supers.

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