Parlay Betting

[rolling]

Just looking for opinions on this bet and do most tracks take this bet.

[andymays]

Originally Posted by rolling

Just looking for opinions on this bet and do most tracks take this bet.

In California (I don't know about other places) you can parlay up to 6 horses w-p-s!

I think it's the best bet at the track but you have to remember you can't stop it once it starts. I played a $200 win and place parlay at Santa Anita before the synthetic crap when I could bet with some confidence. First Horse wins at 19-1 and the second horse opens up at 5-2 and goes off at 13-1 and wins going away. Even though I've made bigger scores than that I call that 2 horse w-p parlay the best bet I ever made because it wasn't a gimmick bet!

[andymays]

Originally Posted by rolling

Just looking for opinions on this bet and do most tracks take this bet.

If they don't take it you can do it on your own.

[ryesteve]

Originally Posted by andymays

the second horse opens up at 5-2

Of course he did... it was all your money in the pool

But to answer the original poster, I think it's a poor bet. From a money management standpoint, it'd be very hard to justify the bet size of the 2nd wager.

If you want this kind of action, bet cold doubles. Sure, you're restricted to consecutive races, but the return is almost always significantly better than a parlay, which further reinforces the reasons not to play parlays in the first place.

[andymays]

Originally Posted by ryesteve

Of course he did... it was all your money in the pool

But to answer the original poster, I think it's a poor bet. From a money management standpoint, it'd be very hard to justify the bet size of the 2nd wager.

If you want this kind of action, bet cold doubles. Sure, you're restricted to consecutive races, but the return is almost always significantly better than a parlay, which further reinforces the reasons not to play parlays in the first place.

The difference between a parlay and a double or pick 3 or 4 is that you can select the Horses you really like instead of spreading in the races you don't like. If your best bets are in the 2nd Race and the 8th Race then do the parlay. If they are in consecutive races and the pools are OK then the double is probably better. You can do it from Track to Track if you parlay yourself.

When I would go to Tijuana and they were booking the bets I would usually do a 4 horse win and place round robin (series of 2 horse parlays)! They could all be at one Track or at 4 Tracks down there.

The other thing about a parly is no IRS signups. Sometimes it's quite a bit of fun to parlay 6 horses for $10 or $20. Some to place, some to show, maybe 1 to win. It adds up!

[takeout]

Steph Beattie went 3-for-3 at CT last Sunday, her owner Robert Cole going 2-for-2. I always think of parlays after the fact! “Coulda” made some little dough into some bigger dough though there are obvious limits due to the size of the pools (puddles?) at CT, not to mention the extra takeout because they don’t have the bet and it would have to be done manually.

Great score, andymays. If you had had to do it manually do you think you would have, after hitting for so much in the first leg? I’m thinking the being “locked in to it” part may be a good thing. I’ve cost myself in the past by not having the nerve to go through with it. My “bird in the hand” thinking took over and I “forgot” that it was supposed to be considered ONE bet.

[andymays]

Originally Posted by takeout

Steph Beattie went 3-for-3 at CT last Sunday, her owner Robert Cole going 2-for-2. I always think of parlays after the fact! “Coulda” made some little dough into some bigger dough though there are obvious limits due to the size of the pools (puddles?) at CT, not to mention the extra takeout because they don’t have the bet and it would have to be done manually.

Great score, andymays. If you had had to do it manually do you think you would have, after hitting for so much in the first leg? I’m thinking the being “locked in to it” part may be a good thing. I’ve cost myself in the past by not having the nerve to go through with it. My “bird in the hand” thinking took over and I “forgot” that it was supposed to be considered ONE bet.

I would not have parlayed the whole thing. It would depend on how I was doing for the day but I know I would have put at least half of the money on the second Horse. But when you make a parlay you have to be prepared to get sick if you end up with a bunch of money going on a Horse that washes out or acts badly when he comes out on the track. But that's the same with pick 3's,4's,and 6's!

It's a funny story because I wasn't sure post 9-11 if they would make me sign something for the cash even though it wasn't a signup.

Takeout sometimes you get a feeling with a certain Trainer having a couple of interesting horses on the day or something like that. In my case both were gelded and going up in class with good trainers and good works since last race!

[takeout]

Originally Posted by andymays

It's a funny story because I wasn't sure post 9-11 if they would make me sign something for the cash even though it wasn't a signup.

Did they?

[andymays]

Originally Posted by takeout

Did they?

I was pissed that I didn't cut it up into $20 increments when I made it but I expected each horse to go off at 5-1 so I wasn't worried about it.

I went to Santa Anita and decided to put the tickets in a machine and then make $50 4 horse tri boxes and then cancel them so I could break up the 50k plus into smaller amounts. At least that was the plan.

When I put the win parlay ticket into the machine it went nuts and started beeping and code 52 (or some number) came on the screen. The last thing I wanted was to draw attention to myself but I let out a loud oh F*** when it started beeping and that made it worse. I tried to get the ticket back but couldn't. The attendant came over and said he had never seen that code before and didn't know what was going on so he had to call the mutuel department downstairs. The mutuel guy came up and asked me what the ticket was worth and when I told him he said that the amount was the problem and I would have to give him the ticket so he could go downstairs and straighten it out. Then I let out another F me and I asked to see his ID to make sure he worked there and asked for his phone number so I could find him if he decided to take off with the ticket. I fully expected to have to sign something but when the guy came back (I called him at least 5 times) about a half hour later he gave me 50 or 54 $1000 vouchers and I didn't have to sign a thing. I put them 5 at a time in the machine and cashed them out into 5k voucher increments and put them in my pocket. After every couple of races I would cash one but I still went home with about 30k in vouchers (it's a problem to carry that much cash at one time). I used them and cashed them over the next few weeks.

[takeout]

Great stuff!

I would’ve thought that would’ve been a good plan too. Guess the machines have some amount programmed in there that trips them. Glad it all worked out. I can imagine how paranoid you must’ve been that the guy wouldn’t come back!

The reason I asked is that I once had a clerk that wanted me to sign for a ticket that wasn’t a signer. An honest mistake (she was new) but it just got me curious.

[andymays]

Originally Posted by takeout

Great stuff!

I would’ve thought that would’ve been a good plan too. Guess the machines have some amount programmed in there that trips them. Glad it all worked out. I can imagine how paranoid you must’ve been that the guy wouldn’t come back!

The reason I asked is that I once had a clerk that wanted me to sign for a ticket that wasn’t a signer. An honest mistake (she was new) but it just got me curious.

I don't know this from my own experience but I've been told that post 9-11 in Vegas they make you sign for amounts in excess of 10k at the tables. I don't know about the Race Books. Maybe someone here knows.

[ryesteve]

Originally Posted by andymays

The difference between a parlay and a double or pick 3 or 4 is that you can select the Horses you really like instead of spreading in the races you don't like

Or you could employ some discipline and not bet races you don't really like. On any given friday thru sunday this time of year, there are 30 to 40 tracks running... there's absolutely no excuse for betting into races you don't like.

And look at this way: if someone really believes they can show a profit with parlays, think how much higher their ROI would be if they restricted their play to doubles where they had similarly strong opinions.

[takeout]

Originally Posted by ryesteve

if someone really believes they can show a profit with parlays, think how much higher their ROI would be if they restricted their play to doubles where they had similarly strong opinions.

But isn’t one of the main reasons that doubles usually pay more because of only the one takeout? If a track offered a parlay bet wouldn’t that essentially be the same thing as betting a double?

[andymays]

If a guy likes two horses on a card that aren't in consecutive races how else would you bet them?

[ryesteve]

Originally Posted by andymays

If a guy likes two horses on a card that aren't in consecutive races how else would you bet them?

Straight, in the proper amounts.

Let me ask you this: would you knowingly bet a DD at a track that had a 32% takeout on them? That's pretty much what a parlay is.