Nowhere do you get more tradition than at horse racing. We went on a search and selected the hottest non GamStop horse betting sites with a wide range of betting options for you. In this test report we also explain attractive strategies with high success rates.
What Types of Horse Racing Bets & Betting Markets Are There?
You have now gained an overview of the different non GamStop horse betting providers. But maybe you're not yet sure enough to hunt for the best odds with self-confidence and, above all, success-oriented? Then, in this section, we will first tell you what actually happens at the racetrack before we go through the most important betting markets for easy understanding.
Canter or Trot? Flat or Obstacle? Long or Short Distance?
The (Olympic) equestrian sport in the areas of dressage or show jumping is more accessible to many, while the racetrack has many peculiarities and special features purely due to tradition.
If you are standing there at the track and have been there for years, you look the horses in the eyes, talk briefly to the jockeys and immediately know your betting decision. Of course, this is a completely different number on the Internet.
There are large and small events were very different races always take place on the race weekend. The main distinction depends on the gait of the animals:
When it comes to horse racing, you just have to be fast. Sometimes it's a sprint distance, sometimes endurance is required, but usually it's run on a flat route. However, the surface can be sandy, muddy or simply grass.
These Betting Markets Await you
Many of you come from football and know how detailed the bets can be. Who will take the next corner? What about after 75 minutes? Who does the coach substitute at halftime? All of this results from the complex set of rules that football has.
Things are different at the racetrack. The non GamStop bookmakers can get creative here too and evaluate events outside of the races, but the focus is clearly on the run-in, i.e. the sequence of horses coming to the finish.
So, for you it's usually about predicting the positions of the starters, while we exclude special betting markets at this point. The following betting markets all relate to the entry of the starters and can be found again and again in one way or another. Here's what you can bet on with horses:
● Win bet: You will almost always bet on the winner of a race (especially as a beginner).
● Place bet: If you are considering horse racing with a place bet, you want a little more security or you don't see a clear favorite. Typically, your candidate has to finish in the first three positions for a place bet, or perhaps only 1st or 2nd in smaller races.
● Win/Place Bet: This is technically a combination bet, but it is so popular that it has been given its own name. With this “each-way bet” half the stake automatically goes to the winner of the race and you secure the second half with a place bet.
● Ita/Trita: Sounds exotic, but in terms of type it is exactly like a win bet, only here you explicitly bet on the second or third place in a race. This is only recommended in very specific constellations and requires deeper insight into the matter.
● Two-of-a-kind bet/three-of-a-kind bet and twin/triple of a kind: If it is even called “Exacta”, you decide on the horse in position 1 and the one in position 2 at the same time. Both places must be right, otherwise the bet is lost. “Quinella” is a little easier, in which 1 and 2 can also be swapped. The three-way bet (Trifecta), on the other hand, is incredibly difficult because the first three places have to be correct (not for the “trio”). The four-way bet in horse racing is probably the Holy Grail.
● Stable bets: In order to avoid collusion, you can decide each bet on any horse from a specific stable. You win if any of these animals lands on the spot you want.
● Even/Odd: Since it is offered at Sportaza, for example, we will briefly mention the very risky Even/Odd bet. This refers to the starting number of the winner, which can be particularly important if there are two favorites with equal parity.
● Head-to-head bets: These now even exist in football when the table positions of two clubs are compared. At the racetrack, two starters are paired together, with favorites often being paired with outsiders. It's called: Whose position is better?
● Finish bets: Finish bets have a great tradition at the racetrack, when bets are placed on the winners of the three main races in one go as a combination bet.
By the way: Of course, you can also arrange system bets for your horse racing bet, with the combination bet often being referred to as a “sliding bet”. This comes from the tradition that winnings won in betting shops are often automatically “pushed” into the next race.
What Aspects Should You Take into Account When It Comes to Horse Betting Odds?
We have mentioned it several times: horse betting is something very special, as you can also experience with Grand National betting. When a non GamStop bookmaker offers horse racing, they have to decide where their odds come from for each situation. Two concepts are crucial here:
Fixed Odds
This is what you have long known from your trusted online bookie. The non GamStop bookmaker himself observes the situation, carries out computer-aided analysis and assesses the balance of power. This creates probabilities for each starter that can be converted into odds using the reciprocal.
A simple example with only two starters: The non GamStop bookmaker analyzes that both are equally strong, so the chances are 50 percent each. So he publishes the odds of 2.0 for both horses. Since the bookie also has to live on something, he deducts his share, which is why perhaps only 1.80 is offered.
Fixed odds have the advantage that you always know exactly what you are getting into and can track the odds over time. The bookmaker, for his part, has to be vigilant around the clock to see whether something in the balance of power might have changed.
Totalizer Principle
Since many entries take place one after the other on a race day and new developments arise every minute, the local non GamStop bookmakers have opted for the totalizator principle for their bets on horses from early on. This is similar to what you might do in private betting sessions.
In this case, the non GamStop bookmaker only acts as an administrator and does not have to have any knowledge of the races. A fraction of each bet is retained as a fee in advance and the rest goes into the big pot, from which the totalizator odds can only be read at the very end.
The simplest example with only two participants: One wants to bet 10 euros on the black horse, one wants to bet 10 euros on the white horse. It doesn't matter which horse is the favorite because the pot is now 20 euros and whoever is correct gets the money. In this case, this corresponds to a final odds of 2.0. But if two bet on the winning horse and one deviates, the pot would be 30 euros and the winners would only get 15 euros each at odds of 1.50.