If you like fast action and sports betting, you most likely love betting on the horses. But, sometimes you just can’t get out to the track because of silly things like work or responsibilities. Boo, we know. Thankfully, your favorite tracks can now come to you in the comfort of wherever it is that you aren’t allowed to leave from. Horse racing betting sites are now offering horse racing action directly from your computer, phone, tablet, or smart device. As long as you have an internet or phone connection, you’re set to bet right now!
On this page, we’re going to talk you through everything you need to know to get started betting on horses online. As we know you like fast action, we won’t wait any longer and will jump right into the information you came to see.
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I’ve Got a Hot Tip! Get Me Betting NOW!
If you’re just galloping through and you’ve got the lock of the century burning a hole in your pocket, we don’t want to be the ones to slow you down. Sometimes when you get a hot tip on a horse, you have to act fast to get your action in to collect your winnings. To help you get out of the gate quickly, we’ve put together our list of the top online horse racing betting sites.
What’s Important in a Horse Racing Betting Site
If you’ve never bet horses online before and have always spent your time at the track, you might not know what you’re looking for. Luckily, we have a team of horse racing bettors who have transitioned to the online realm and know exactly what a good bettor wants, needs, and can’t stand. Below, we’ve collected the list of the most important things our professional horse racing bettors think is necessary for a top online horse racing betting site. This is not a complete list of the necessary criteria, but it’s definitely the most important.
These are the criteria we used to come up with the recommended list of sites we gave you above. You can use those sites knowing that they ranked extremely high in all of these categories. Or, maybe you want to go rogue and find a site on your own? While we don’t recommend that, you can at least utilize this list of criteria to try and assess the quality of the sites you find.
Trust and Integrity
No, we’re not talking about trusting the horses themselves. We’re talking about being able to trust the horse racing betting site, their owners, the company, and what they claim to offer. Ideally, this should never have to be a concern of yours, but unfortunately, there are some bad apples in the industry that need to be taken out to pasture.
You need to be able to know that when you place your bets, you can trust that they’re going to be paid out properly. You need to be able to trust that the site owners always have your best interests in mind and that the way the site conducts its business reflects that. If they aren’t operating with integrity and transparency, they don’t deserve your business.
This can be hard to spot at times, but we’ve gotten pretty good at picking out the winners and the losers. We look at the company history, the owners and management, customer complaints, their business practices, and anything else we can get our hands on that might shed some light into the trust and integrity of the operation. For the most part, online sports betting sites are trying to do the right thing. But, there are several that are not in it for the right reasons or just aren’t smart enough to know how to do things the right way.
Betting Options
You want action, right? You don’t join a horse racing betting site to be able to bet on one random race, once a year (unless it’s one of the major Triple Crown races). For most of you, though, you’re looking to get constant action whenever you want it. This means that the horse racing betting site better have action at a lot of different tracks all throughout the day/year.
Additionally, they need to offer every different kind of bet that you would want. If they only offer you the ability to bet on the race winner, what’s the point? There are tons of different types of horse racing bets, and a smart bettor is going to want to have them at their disposal in case they have a prediction that requires them.
Luckily, this is pretty easy to spot with some basic research. Whenever we review the quality of a horse racing betting site, we flip through their list of offered tracks, the races they cover, and how many different types of bets they have for each race. As long as you know what the industry standard is, it’s pretty easy to tell whether the site is worth your time or needs to be kicked to the manure pile.
Betting and Transaction Limits (Professional Bettors Only)
This is most likely not going to be important to recreational bettors, but it’s something that we look at for our big-betting professional horse racing bettors. If you bet professionally, you’re going to want to be able to make the size of bets you want when you want. If a site puts heavy restrictions on how much you can bet on an individual race or bet type, it might limit you from employing the strategy you want and need to turn a profit.
Now, for most of you, this isn’t going to be a huge issue. The online sportsbooks are great about taking pretty sizeable action especially at the major tracks or during major events. But, what about the smaller tracks? What about the events that aren’t getting a ton of action? Are they still going to let you keep the limits you need? What about getting your money on and off the site? Do they have procedures and means in place to help you move large chunks of your bankroll on and large chunks of your winnings off?
These are things that you need to be looking into if you’re a serious horse racing bettor. Again, for most of you, the current site limits will be plenty. But, for some of you, it might be an issue. If you find a horse racing betting site that you like, but the limits aren’t what you need, we recommend contacting their customer support and seeing if they are willing to raise the limits or make special accommodations for you. You’d be surprised what betting sites will do for big players – pleasantly surprised.
Website and User Interface
When you bet at the track, it’s pretty easy. You get your paper program, pick out the horses you want to bet, and you take those picks to the counter and get your slip. Well, we think that online horse racing betting should be just as easy if not easier. And, we know from experience that a simple, headache-free experience is completely possible because the sites we’ve recommended have pulled it off.
It all comes down to this. The user interface (where you make your bets) needs to be simple to use, easy to understand, and organized in a way that makes navigation a cinch for you. It’s as simple as that. You should enjoy your time betting on horses online. It should feel convenient, and you should never have to worry about finding the track you want, the race you want, the bet you want, or the horse you want. If it’s not easy to use, then the site is not worth your time.
Bonus Programs
The absolute last thing that we look at when it comes to picking out the top horse racing betting sites are the bonus programs. Yes, everyone loves free money and free stuff, but these things can cloud your judgment when it comes to things that are more important. Would you rather get $500 free at a shady site you can’t really trust or get $0 free at a site where you know your money, and personal information are safe?
Obviously, the safety and security are much more important, but this can quickly elude you when you’re getting a lot of free stuff or free money waived in your face. For this reason, we wait until the very end to look at the bonus programs and VIP rewards offered by a horse racing betting site. Look at them like a cherry on top. Use them when you are stuck between two quality, safe sites. Just don’t let them be the driving force that gets you to pick a cruddy site over a great one.
While not always true, overly aggressive bonuses that make no sense often can be red flags. There are times when these are legit aggressive marketing efforts to drive new clients, but we are always on our guard when something seems to good to be true. You should be too.
Different “Levels” of Horse Racing Betting Sites
Horse racing betting sites come in all shapes and sizes. Some offer a ton of action on everything, while some offer a little action only on the big events. Which type of site is the best? Honestly, it comes down to you and what you’re specifically looking for. Below, we’ll break down the three different types of horse racing betting sites that you’re going to encounter on the web.
Major Races Only
The “lower” level of online horse racing betting sites are the sites that only offer action on the major races like the three legs of the Triple Crown. Typically, these are major sportsbooks that cater to the “more popular” sports and only include horse racing action to appease the gamblers at their site that like to bet on televised events.
Who are these sites great for? Well, if you’re someone who just wants to bet on the big races of the year and that’s it, you’ll enjoy these sites. If you like to bet on lots of major sports all across the board including the big horse races, you’ll enjoy these sites. Basically, they’re for the most casual of horse racing fans or those just looking for a little action on the big races of the year. You can get in and make your bets without a lot of the potential confusion of having to sift through tracks or a ton of different types of bets.
Major Tracks Only
The “middle” level of horse racing betting sites are those that offer regular action on races, but only at the major tracks around the country or globe. Sites like this are great for horse racing bettors that fall somewhere between full-time professionals and recreational bettors. If you like to bet frequently, you’re going to like sites like this. If you’re someone who likes the action and doesn’t care as much about scouring for value, this is where you’ll want to be.
These horse racing betting sites will have plenty of action for you without overloading you. Many of the sites we recommended above fall into this category while the rest fall into the last category we’re about to talk about.
All Inclusive
These sites are the mack daddies of horse racing betting sites. If you want action available to you at every track on every race anywhere in the world, these are the sites you’re going to be looking for. For obvious reasons these sites are limited and can be tough to find at times (we have some recommended above). This is because it takes a massive amount of resources for the online site to offer this action, but some do choose to take on the undertaking.
The value in these sites is that you have the ultimate in betting flexibility. Get a tip or have a prediction on a random race in the middle of nowhere Florida? You can bet on it. Have a system that requires you to search through a ton of different races and tracks to find winning value? Here’s your chance. While recreational horse racing bettors might find this overwhelming, you’re going to love it because your end goal is turning a consistent profit.