Betting Online vs. Betting at the Track
It goes without saying that all of us prefer to be at the racetrack. There isn’t a horseplayer that I know of who wouldn’t like to make every single one of his or her wagers while sipping coffee in the am, drinking mid-afternoon martinis, eating better than expected food and talking about horse racing all day.
But that’s really not possible. Almost all horseplayers have other jobs and all of us have other responsibilities. I’ve got a five-year-old who is starting to get into boxing, that’s right, boxing and he’s still bugging me for a baseball mitt and a ball. My wife runs a gallery in Chinatown with my sister-in-law (I have to help, right?) I’m also getting into this John Updike novel, finally, that my sister told me to read about 20 years ago and my wife read when she was in high school.
When I’m at the racetrack, I want to be at the racetrack. I want to walk and talk, eat and drink, and discuss the beauty of this magical sport and the track itself, this unimaginable place where dreams can be built (and crushed!) in the matter of minutes. There is no place on the planet quite like a horse racing track.But, again, it’s not possible to get out to the track all of the time. That’s why betting online is the best way to enjoy the races, make some money (hopefully!) and still do all of the things that you need to do as a human being, not as a horseplayer. There are also some advantages to betting online as opposed to betting at the racetrack.
Top 5 Advantages to Betting Online
You won’t ever miss out on a race – This is probably the most important reason to stay home and bet. When you bet online, you don’t have to run from the television screen to the window and back to the TV screen. In states like Arizona whom I think is finally allowing phone wagering, sometimes the OTB will open up after the race on which you want to wager has gone off. Finding one winner is difficult enough. Not being able to bet on that winner is downright ludicrous.
- Food and drink won’t eat into your bankroll – Inevitably, food and drink when you are at the racetrack will eat into your bankroll. That’s not the case when you bet online. You can just stand up, walk to your fridge, and make yourself a sandwich. You can keep your betting money safely where it should be, in your TwinSpires account, instead of in your pocket where it can end up in the bartender’s till.
You get to hear the opinions of the at track analysts – If you go to say, Santa Anita Park, you only get to hear what the analysts at Santa Anita Park think about the upcoming race. If, though, you bet online through TwinSpires, you get to hear what Ron Nicoletti is thinking out at Gulfstream even if you live in California. Ron knows what he’s talking about. So, hearing what he has to say can really help you as a handicapper.
- Betting online makes it much easier to cancel wagers – This is a big one. If you make a wager at the racetrack and about a minute before the race goes off you want to change your mind, you have to get back in line and try to get the ticket changed before the race goes off. When you’re betting online, it takes seconds to cancel a wager. That’s it. You don’t have to rush to the windows.
You can make wagers on the fly – TwinSpires has an incredible mobile website (and a new native app coming soon my spies tell me). I can’t tell you how many times my brother has texted me the number of the horse that he likes in the very next race at Santa Anita or Turf Paradise with only 2 to 3 minutes left for me to make the wager. If I was at the racetrack, I might not be able to get to the window in time. Not only that, but by utilizing TwinSpires’ mobile app, I’m able to put in the wager no matter where I’m at.
ADVERTISEMENT
