When you're betting on horse races using real money, and assuming its your own money that was legally obtained, it is no joke to lose.
While a day at the track may be considered pleasant entertainment and the price of losing bets may be considered the price for that entertainment, losing is a way to pass time, but isn't much fun.
If you haven't had much luck at the races in the past, here are a few horse racing tips that may help you to pick some winners and perhaps have a good time, even if you have to bring your mother-in-law along.
There are some excellent books on the subject of handicapping horse races and you could study some of them to learn the art of picking winners.
That requires a lot of time and effort, however, and if the idea is just to have a day at the races without working too hard, it becomes counter productive to have to study and learn a difficult procedure in order to win.
So for now, we'll talk about simple things you can do to increase your chances of winning.
Tip number one is a real peach.
Stay away from long shots unless you have a very good reason to bet on one.
The winner of most horse races is usually found within the ranks of the top three favorites.
In other words, the horses with the lowest odds usually have the best chance of winning.
That does not mean you should just bet on the runner with the lowest odds, otherwise known as the chalk or favorite.
It does mean, however, that if a horse is getting betting action from the crowd that you should look it over and decide if you like it as a bet.
Now here comes the big key to all this horse picking stuff.
Look at the horses.
I mean put down your drink, and actually go outside where the horses are and look them over.
They're animals and you can learn a lot by looking at them.
If a horse is prancing and looks excited and eager to race, that's a good thing.
If it happens to be one of the top three horses in the odds, in other words one of the crowd's favorites, it may be a good bet.
Just don't bet on a horse that is sweating excessively.
It's called being, "Washy," and it's not a good sign.
You might also want to check out the jockey, that would be the person riding the horse.
Does he or she have a confident look on his or her face? What does the rider's body language tell you? Here is a really bad sign.
If the rider has his or her feet out of the stirrups during the post parade or while the horse is being led around the track, that is not a good sign.
It usually means the jockey has little interest in the race and is just taking a breather.
A horse that is being bet by the crowd and that is, "on it's toes," as it is sometimes called, is usually a horse that will run well and finish in the money.
Rather than just betting to win, you may wish to bet it to win, place, and show.
It's called an across the board bet and if your horse finishes first, second, or even third, you'll collect some money.