| There are many people trying to make money betting | | | | You can handicap 15 races with ten horses in each |
| on horses who are making things difficult for | | | | race or |
| themselves. Horse racing handicapping is difficult | | | | By only handicapping races with 8 horses, instead of |
| enough without having the odds against you. A simple | | | | the 10 horse races, you eliminate two horses per race |
| understanding of the odds, probability, and statistics of | | | | and can now handicap 18 races in the same amount |
| horseracing and betting will demonstrate what I mean. | | | | of time. That is three more chances to find a good bet. |
| Let's take the simplest bet and see how you can have | | | | But it gets even better because in a ten horse race, all |
| a better chance of picking more winners. Of course I | | | | things being equal, you have a one in ten, or 10% |
| am talking about straight win bets. The size of the field | | | | chance of winning, but in an 8 horse field you have a |
| is something a lot of people don't take into | | | | one in eight or 12 1/2% chance. It doesn't mean that |
| consideration when handicapping a race, but you really | | | | your chances are 2 1/2% better. It actually means that |
| should. Simply put, the more horses the more your | | | | your chances are 25% better. |
| chances of losing and the more time it takes to | | | | So by only playing races with 8 horses or less, you |
| handicap a race to see if there is even a playable | | | | can handicap 20% more races in the same amount of |
| horse in the race. | | | | time and increase your chances of winning by 25%. In |
| This has two factors that you must take into account. | | | | horse racing handicapping, as in any money making |
| First of all, let's start with the time it takes you to | | | | venture, time is money and how you budget your time |
| handicap a race and the number of races you can | | | | and the level of difficulty you choose, will have a direct |
| handicap in a day without burning out. If you can | | | | impact on how much money you make. |
| handicap for five hours a day and it takes you 20 | | | | Think about this the next time you are planning your |
| minutes to handicap a ten horse race that is 2 minutes | | | | day and choosing the races you will play. |
| per horse that you handicap in the course of a day. | | | | |