Mistakes you made as a newbie horse racing bettor?

[Horsery]

On my first or second day as a newbie horse racing bettor, I almost accidentally donated almost all of my winnings for a race. I had won about $25 and I saw a button saying,"$20," I assumed the $20," was the button to cash out most of the winnings, like maybe you couldn't cash out the entire amount at the same time. I reached out to press "$20." A seasoned horse racing bettor stopped me in the nick of time from accidentally betting most of my winnings, saying that 20 is if you want to donate the $20. If you don't want to donate, you can press,"No thanks." I presses,"No thanks" and thanked him from stopping me from making a mistake. I am now ALWAYS careful to not hit the donation by mistake.

What about you? Any mistakes you made as a newbie horse racing bettor?

[Horsery]

I accidentally left my winning ticket behind. I realized after I was far away from the Casino what I had done. Thank God it was only a $12 win and not much more than just $12.

[porchy44]

Chasing losses or "going on tilt". Matured enough as a bettor, where I haven't done that in many years.

[46zilzal]

Easy...spending far too much time on the handicapping (often a ridiculous amount) and never enough on the wager creation side of the coin (either finding the best venue where my style of handicapping worked best, or developing the discipline to WAIT for the proper time to bet not accepting chalky results after chalky results).

This is a GAME OF GAMBLING and whether you find parimutuel advantage in a grade one, or a maiden claimer for 4 y/o and up, IT IS EXACTLY the same process. That's why I love little underplayed venues that favor speed, and play much more aggressively in the winter than any other time of the year when weather changes the bias of most dirt courses.

[JustRalph]

not realizing Beyer numbers didn't transfer equally from Track to track..........

didn't take long to figure that out though

[PalaceOfFortLarned]

Unfortunately, I had a great start into this amazing game.

First wager I ever made was a $2 EX box on 2 horses that returned $121.

I made money most times hitting the track when I started. My err was it was 'too easy' at that time, and I didn't really appreciate how stupid lucky I was.

In retrospect, I didn't appreciate how difficult this game really is. And it has only gotten much more difficult over the years with the internet, much more information available, and whales and CAWs.

Can't imagine trying to start wagering into this game nowadays when there are so much more better options available to a newbie.

[MJC922]

Maybe one of the bigger things at first was not immediately realizing the significance of local knowledge and the uniqueness of each individual track. In other words thinking what works for me here should work the same over there. Differences in surfaces and how well speed holds up cause the rider's tactics to be a lot harder to predict at some tracks and there are also some tracks where the vets play such a significant role in performance that they're essentially holding all the cards. So the racing is not uniformly honest from one track to the next. The track or tracks to spend your time on are the ones where you have built up confidence through close observation that the racing is very honest and riding tactics are somewhat more predictable due to how the surface plays.

[plainolebill]

First time my buddy and I hit the twin perfecta. That was in 72, what an easy game.

[Horsery]

Originally Posted by PalaceOfFortLarned

Unfortunately, I had a great start into this amazing game.

First wager I ever made was a $2 EX box on 2 horses that returned $121.

I made money most times hitting the track when I started. My err was it was 'too easy' at that time, and I didn't really appreciate how stupid lucky I was.

In retrospect, I didn't appreciate how difficult this game really is. And it has only gotten much more difficult over the years with the internet, much more information available, and whales and CAWs.

Can't imagine trying to start wagering into this game nowadays when there are so much more better options available to a newbie.

It is easy. You just put money on a horse and hope he or she wins.

[lefty359]

When I started I played every race on the card. But that was back in the fifties and the only track I had access to was Ellis Park, but back then they called it Dade Park.

[Inner Dirt]

Originally Posted by PalaceOfFortLarned

Unfortunately, I had a great start into this amazing game.

First wager I ever made was a $2 EX box on 2 horses that returned $121.

I made money most times hitting the track when I started. My err was it was 'too easy' at that time, and I didn't really appreciate how stupid lucky I was.

In retrospect, I didn't appreciate how difficult this game really is. And it has only gotten much more difficult over the years with the internet, much more information available, and whales and CAWs.

Can't imagine trying to start wagering into this game nowadays when there are so much more better options available to a newbie.

You beat my beginners luck, my first bet was $2 across on a $57 winner, that was at Los Alamitos QH, did not cash another ticket all night, still went home up $20 something.


My big mistake was betting win money on horses with no chance of winning when there was a prohibitive favorite and an exacta box would just break even if the favorite won. I could not bring myself to bet a cold exacta. That was back when California had very little to offer in exotic wagering, their wagering menu was way behind. I learned that when I went to Agua Caliente and bet the simulcast tracks back East.





That points out another mistake, betting a bunch of different tracks down there and not realizing how good I was doing at Aqueducto, till years later.

[ScottJ]

If I was given a single piece of advice when I was a teenager that has dictated all of my wagering (and career choices), it would be this : "You can never win with scared money."

[46zilzal]

Originally Posted by MJC922

Maybe one of the bigger things at first was not immediately realizing the significance of local knowledge and the uniqueness of each individual track. In other words thinking what works for me here should work the same over there. Differences in surfaces and how well speed holds up cause the rider's tactics to be a lot harder to predict at some tracks and there are also some tracks where the vets play such a significant role in performance that they're essentially holding all the cards. So the racing is not uniformly honest from one track to the next. The track or tracks to spend your time on are the ones where you have built up confidence through close observation that the racing is very honest and riding tactics are somewhat more predictable due to how the surface plays.

An overlooked piece of advice...BRAVO

[Stevecsd2]

A couple of times I bet on the wrong horse (one I didn't pick as my choice.) I also bet one time on the wrong horse & it won. Became more careful when I did my choosing at the web sites.

[burnsy]

Originally Posted by MJC922

Maybe one of the bigger things at first was not immediately realizing the significance of local knowledge and the uniqueness of each individual track. In other words thinking what works for me here should work the same over there. Differences in surfaces and how well speed holds up cause the rider's tactics to be a lot harder to predict at some tracks and there are also some tracks where the vets play such a significant role in performance that they're essentially holding all the cards. So the racing is not uniformly honest from one track to the next. The track or tracks to spend your time on are the ones where you have built up confidence through close observation that the racing is very honest and riding tactics are somewhat more predictable due to how the surface plays.

Huge , some people don’t believe this that are not new . It’s so important. It’s one reason to stick to the tracks you know . And what works because you are familiar.