Is Horse Racing Handicapping Easier With a Computer

By Bill Peterson

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The computer age has changed our lives in unimaginable ways. Who knew just a few decades ago that we would be carrying around phones that we could send messages with, surf the internet with, and use as a gps.
Those are just a few of the uses of today's modern techno gadgets that really do seem to make life easier. But do those gadgets enable us to handicap a race any better, and if so, are we making more money as handicappers?

In my experience the answer is that while we do have more information at our finger tips, there is still little profit to be made picking winners. It may be possible, but it isn't easy to make a profit betting on horses, and you're hearing that from a man who teaches people how to handicap the races. I make my living from horse racing, but I don't sugar coat it.

While the amount of information that is available has certainly increased, that information is available to any one who seeks it. The trick to making money betting on horse races isn't just to have more information, it is to have more and better information than the other guy or to use your information better than he does.

After all, let's be honest, we're each trying to beat the rest of the crowd when we bet on a race unless we're in a place where book making is legal, in which case we may be trying to beat an odds maker. Whatever the case may be, horse racing handicapping is about beating other people, being better at spotting a value bet, of evaluating the runners.

Separating Common Sense From Nonsense in Horse Racing Handicapping

By Bill Peterson

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If you've been going to the races for a while you've probably picked up a little horse racing lore and logic along the way. There are some things that most horse racing handicappers and horse players know that every body at the race track knows and uses to pick winners and find good bets. Fortunately, for a few people, that is, some of that so-called common sense or common knowledge, is hogwash. If you're using it, it could be costing you plenty.

Let's start with one tidbit of information that most horse players know and use when sizing up the runners and trying to find a good bet. "The favorites win about a third of the races."
I like to call this one of those situations where a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. If you look at all the races at a particular track, you will usually find that about 30%-35% are won by the betting favorite in the race. But for those punters who look at the odds board and spot the horse that has the most money bet on it and think that it has a one out of three chance of winning just because the crowd has made it the favorite, they're operating under false information.

The truth of the matter is that there is a wide disparity between winning favorites depending upon the kind of race in question. Breaking it down and looking more closely at the betting choice in each kind of race at almost any race track will reveal some races where the favorites win more than 50% of the races while in others the favorites win only about 10%.

That is a huge difference and if you're relying on the old saw that favorites win about a third of the time, you're in for a shock. Now let's look even closer at this common knowledge. The odds do make a difference, not just to the actual amount paid out to the winners, but also in predicting the horse's chances of winning the race. The lower the odds, the greater the runner's chances of winning.

The Best Horse Races to Handicap and Win Consistently

By Bill Peterson

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Before you begin any kind of venture in life, do you first try to figure out how difficult it will be to succeed at that endeavor? Successful people usually have this one character trait. They will try to do difficult things, but they will also find out how difficult those things are and then choose the ones that they think they really can succeed with, given their talents and abilities. They don't mind a challenge, but they hate wasted efforts on impossible tasks.

Now let's apply that to horse racing handicapping and think about how we can use that insight to succeed at picking enough winning horses to make a profit. I am assuming that's what you want to do. If, on the other hand, you just want to bet for the sake of a thrill and try to charm Lady Luck into paying you a visit, then you really don't need to read this horse racing article.

Each person who reads this article is an individual and I can't tell you how to personally succeed as a handicapper. I wish I could, but I can't and unless someone else knows you very well, he can't tell you how to succeed as a handicapper, either. You have talents and abilities and some knowledge that is specific to your own life experience.

For instance, there are probably race tracks that you are more familiar with than others and also maybe you've picked up knowledge about trainers, jockeys, and maybe even the owners of some of the horses and stables. That is all to your advantage if you can somehow make sense of it all and use it. I teach people how to handicap using the basics and some horse racing angles, but how you put it all together with your own talents is the key to success.