TwinSpires Racing Contests in a League of their Own

If you haven't played any of the TwinSpires Racing contests, now is the time to give a few of the contests a try. Although there are other companies that offer racing contests, TwinSpires offers a plethora of contests that require anywhere from Free Roll Games to $1 dollar games to $109 Head-to-Head Games. Another difference is that TwinSpires Racing offers contests on thoroughbred, quarter horse, and greyhound racing. Whatever your favorite racing betting sport is, TwinSpires is likely to offer a contest designed for you.

TwinSpires Horse Racing Contests - Personal Rules

1. Create a specific contest bankroll - Don't mix your daily horse racing bankroll with your contest bankroll. If you're like me and decide on the big race or sequence of races that you want to target for that day and then make small win and exacta bets on other races that catch your eye, the last thing you want to do is have those investment dollars being taken away from your contest investment dollars.

2. But...always play a contest (or two!) at least each Saturday - This is an important one. The cost to get into the $50 High-Roller Game is, yep, fifty bucks. A lot of money?  Not really when you think that you'll only be competing with 10 other individuals for a prize pool of $500. Most of the time, $50 is what I'll invest in a single race. To me, it makes sense. This is especially true if I don't see a race on Saturday that I feel is worth a $50 investment. I'll just save that $50 investment for a different race and try to win the contest.

3. Try to stay away from favorites - Sometimes you have to pick favorites in contest races. For example, last week both Songbird in the Chandelier Stakes and Beholder in the Zenyatta Stakes just couldn't be beat. But, playing against Bayern in any contests proved to be the right thing to do. Remember that as a general rule, the favorite is only going to win 30% of the time. In a racing contest, you definitely don't want to play too many favorites.

4. Remember, you're picking the winner - Sometimes in a race I'll look for the best key horse first. That way, I can make sure to get the exacta the other way if my choice doesn't win. Most of us make more exotic bets than win bets. When playing in contests, I have to remind myself that I'm choosing the winner of the race. What might happen is that a 25 to 1 shot that looks like a great key horse in the exacta and trifecta, isn't that great of a horse to pick to win in a contest. Maybe, the 5 to 1 or the 6 to 1 shot looks better. Or, maybe the 3 to 1 favorite looks like the best.

5. Try not to overthink it - If you choose alternate horses for the contests, make sure to not talk yourself out of your first choice. This happened to me when playing a contest on the TwinSpires site this past Wednesday. I had the winner of the race on top. But, due to my stupidity, I talked myself off of the winner and made my alternate horse my top selection. Yeah, that didn't work out so well.

Contests are a good way to win a lot of money with minimal investment. The overall odds in the Head-to-Head Games are very good considering that you only have to beat one other individual. As with all gambling, bet within your means and never, ever chase losses.