Already, the emotions invested in the race are extremely high. It is only logical that people, then, should opt to invest more than merely their emotions in the race. This is what brings us to the origins of betting.

In horse racing, greyhound racing and all other sports where participants finish in ranks, the betting system followed is called pari-mutuel betting. The word “pari-mutuel” comes from a French phrase meaning “mutual stake”. This already gives us one basic rule about the process – the betting pool comes from the total amount of money wagered, and the money won is calculated as a percentage of this quantity after deducting the taxes and house “take”.

Needless to say, the probability of getting a winning bet is maximized if you bet on the most likely contender, but winnings are the highest when an unknown or unlikely candidate – also known as the “dark horse” – takes the win.

There are several methods of placing bets in pari-mutuel betting, some of which are –

• Win – the wager is placed on the animal that wins the race.

• Exacta, perfecta, or exactor – the bettor places slot gacor a wager on two animals, declaring which will finish first and which second. The result has to be an exact match for a winning bet. If this is carried on to the winning three or four animals, the bet is known as Trifecta or Superfecta.

• Place – the wager is placed on an animal that finishes either first or second.

• Quinella- This is very similar to the exacta bet, except that the bettor need not specify the order in which the top two animals appear

• Show – the animal that has been wagered on must finish first, second or third.