almost 3 years ago

Track takeouts cover some necessary expenses. Race purses are largely funded this way, as are state taxes and other track necessities. But the rising rate of takeout percentages is a cause for alarm. If you aren't concerned with the track takeout on your exotic bets, you should be. Across the country, track takeouts are increasing, making it more and more difficult for horse players to make a profit. The theory behind these increases is that exotic bets pay so much anyway that the casual bettor will not notice that such a large amount has been taken out. For many, this is true. But the professional horse player certainly feels the takeout in their wallet.

In New York State, the takeout for most exotics is 25 percent. This means that for every $1 in wagers, only $0.75 is returned to the winning bettors. Think about it like this: assume there is a ten horse field. If there were ten bettors each betting $100 on ten separate horses, there would be a pool of $1,000. If the entire $1,000 was returned to the winning bettor, they would be receiving effective odds of 9-1 on their $100 wager. But this is not how it works in reality. If 25 percent is removed, only $750 would be received by the winning bettor, an effective payout of 6.5-1.

Even the best bettors can lose money on bets like this if they can't pick winners often enough. The track takeout, if applied often enough in a closed setting, will lead to a 100 percent rate of ruin. The $750 that is paid out would then have another 25 percent removed, and so on. Luckily, we do not bet in an enclosed setting, but this does not mean that overcoming the track takeout is easy. Not only do professional horse players need to be more successful than the average Joe, they must overcome the deficit that the track imposes upon them.

Each and every type of gambling scenario has a house takeout. This is how casinos are able to make so much money. But the advantage that the house has over a skilled blackjack player (1 percent), or the juice taken out by sports books on a straight wager on a football game (10 percent), does not even come close to the takeout for pari-mutuel horse races in New York (15 percent for WPS bets, 17.5 - 25 percent for exotics).The Takeout Times

So what does the serious horse player need to do to overcome this deficit? For one, you need to have a clear advantage over your peers. Most bettors are not experienced enough to completely make sense of all the factors that influence a horse race. While it is virtually impossible to comprehend each factor that influences a race, the more you know, the better off you will be. Secondly, you need to practice appropriate money management. By placing your money correctly, you will limit losses and maximize winnings.