Betting and horse racing have a close relationship that dates back to the beginning of horse racing itself. Equestrian racing dates back at least to ancient Egypt and quite possibly even further back than that. We don’t know for sure how far back horse betting goes, but we know that it has been a part of horse racing for as long as written history can tell us.
Horse betting today takes place around the world. In the US, UK, Europe and Australia, horse racing events are mostly held at racetracks devoted to horse and greyhound racing. Much of the money involved in horse racing revolves around betting.
There are a couple of ways to try your hand at horse betting. If you live near a track, you can visit it in-person to watch the races and place real money wagers on the outcome. If you don’t have access to a track, there are numerous websites that provide online horse betting.
Where to Bet on Horses
There are quite a few places to bet on horses on the internet. You can visit most major sportsbooks to bet on horses or check out a few websites that are dedicated specifically to horse racing. There are a few names that come to mind first when it comes to horse betting online:
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The Best US Horse Betting Sites for 2022
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You can read more about the legality of horse betting here.
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The Best Horse Betting Sites for 2022
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The Best Horse Betting Sites for 2022
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Bet365.com gets my top pick for non-US customers because it has a great reputation and tons of promotions for horse racing fans. Bet365 makes it a point to match the prices of other popular bookmakers. Plus, Bet365 follows all the major horse racing tracks in the US and around the world.
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Visit this page for racing site reviews: race betting sites.
If you stick with the trusted names above, you’ll be in good hands for real money horse race betting. These companies are all well-established and are known throughout the industry for safety and security.
Online Horse Betting in the US
As I mentioned above, online horse betting is fully legal according to federal law in the United States. When the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed in 2006, online horse betting received an exception to the law. Thus, we have several fully legal and licensed horse betting sites in the US.
A few states opted out and put up state laws against horse betting, so some people are out of luck. But the good news is that most states have no problem with online horse betting. If you would like to see where your state stands, see the link below:
If you live in a state that allows online horse betting, you can get started today by visiting any of the recommended website above and signing up for an account. If you live in a state that does not allow online horse betting, you’ll have to get a little more creative.
One option is to visit a regular online sports betting site and bet on horses there. Online sports betting sites do not comply with US laws, so they have more freedom to offer horse betting to US states. The downside is that offshore sports betting sites are not licensed by the US government, so you will have to pick your betting site very carefully.
What to Expect
Online horse betting sites make it easy to sign up and place real money wagers on upcoming events. The first step in getting started is to find a trustworthy betting site – I recommend the ones listed above. Then, you can visit the website, sign up for an account and log in to make your first deposit.
After you have a funded account, you can start placing real money bets immediately. Horse betting sites follow all the major tracks around the world. New races are always starting somewhere, so you will never log in and find a lack of betting options.
One of the best things about betting at the above horse betting sites is that they provide live race fees for free. As long as you have a real money account, you can log in and watch horse races in real time. This is a huge advantage over regular sports betting because you don’t have to scramble to find a place to watch the event on TV – it’s played right there on your computer.
Also note that there are no fees for placing wagers. Horse betting sites take a percentage from the betting pool and earn their profit that way. This has an indirect effect on your payout odds, but there are no outright “fees” for placing wagers.