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Pari-mutuel wagering is fairly new compared to horse racing, whose modern origins date back to the 12th Century. That’s when English knights returned from the Crusades with swift Arab horses.
Over the next 400 years, a growing number of imported Arab stallions were bred to English mares, producing horses that combined speed and endurance.
Pari-mutuel wagering is only 143 years old. Pierre Oller, a Parisian chemist and perfume shop owner, invented it after a bookmaker friend asked him to devise a fair system for bettors that guaranteed a fixed profit for bookmakers. In French, pari-mutuel means “betting among ourselves.”
Oller came up with the system in 1865 to sell tickets and place all the proceeds in a common prize pool to be divided among winning bettors, minus a 5 percent handling charge.
The eventual large amount of calculation needed in the pari-mutuel system led to the automatic totalisator. English-born George Julius, raised and schooled in New Zealand, invented the machine in 1909. Four years later, 30 devices were installed at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland.
It wasn’t until ‘32, and many other countries later, that 110 Julius machines were installed at an American track – defunct Hialeah Park.
I remember when Hialeah and other South Florida tracks only offered one type of exotic wager – the daily double. Now there are so many you need a scorecard if you’re betting an excess of exotics on one program.
One of my favorites is the Pick 3 for several reasons. For example, I believe it’s easier to pick the winners of three consecutive races than the order of finish playing a trifecta in a single contest.
Sometimes I do bet a $1 trifecta that costs $8: 1-2 with 1-2-3 with 1-2-3-4. But I must find a horse that’s better than 3-1 to include in the top tier.
I often go for a $1 Pick 3 that runs anywhere from $6 to $18. A $6 ticket would be 1 with 2-3 with 4-5-6. A $12 ticket: 1-2 with 3-4-5 with 6-7. An $18 bet: 1-2-3 with 1-2 with 1-2-3.
I always look to single a horse in one of the races, but not the favorite for obvious reasons. However, I frequently use two horses in a couple of races, including a longshot in at least one contest.
In January, I played three Pick 3s at Gulfstream Park on one card and didn’t do bad. In the first Pick 3, I wagered $18. In the opening leg I included the third favorite that returned $16.80 and won $92.50.
In the next Pick 3, starting with the third race, I included the fourth favorite that paid $15 on the front end, but because the odds-on favorite scored in one leg, I only realized $59.60 for $12.
For a total investment of $36 in three Pick 3s, I earned $167.80 for a net profit of $131.80.
Remember a juicier return is guaranteed when the favorite fails to score in any leg. When there’s a heavy favorite that you decide can’t lose, don’t include probable choices in the other two legs.
Joe Kristufek, the Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald turf writer and oddsmaker for Arlington Park, points out:
“Defeating the favorite in the first leg of the Pick 3 or Pick 4 puts you in the driver’s seat. Players are often inclined to use the ‘chalk’ in the initial race of the series in order to stay alive. A 5-1 or 10-1 winner is often worth a lot more.”
Several experts say the Pick 3 is more attractive when the public is sure to overbet a horse you dislike or underbet a horse you adore. I agree.
Even more rewarding can be having an opinion in wide-open races because the odds are in your corner if you hit the Pick 3.
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