Select the first letter of the word from the list above to jump to appropriate section of the glossary. If the term you are looking for starts with a digit or symbol, choose the '#' link.
ALONE
ALONE relates to a horse having a single advantage, usually applied to early speed types. We might say a horse is ALONE/LONE/LOOSE SPEED if think it is the only front runner in the race.
See LONE or LOOSE
A favorite or second choice that a player thinks will run badly, creating an opportunity to build a wager betting against the vulnerable favorite as much as betting on something. In theory if the favorite is short enough a player could make money betting on every other horse, provided the favorite lost.
If the basic wager is a win bet or an emulation of a win bet, then the betting sysem is a "Win based betting system". If the betting system is based on a win/place bet, then the betting system is a "win/place based betting system". If the betting system looks to isolate one or two exotic combinations, then its an "exotic based betting system. Its important to understand the betting system, each offers is own set of rewards and demands. Furthermore, once you have selected a betting system, you must stick with it all the time. Players who flip flop their betting system are constantly frustrating themselves.
- I used a "win/place based betting system", which was less efficient than a "win based betting system", but reduced the negative psychological effects of losing streaks, but demanded higher frequency from my handicapping. You need to know yourself and your results. (Please look in the Clubhouse Exchange for my 6/22/1998 discussion on BETTING SYSTEMS".
BOXING
A combination of bets that allows for the order to be inverted when playing multiples of horse. To "box 3 horses in an exacta" is a 6 combination wager of which only 1 combination can win. In an exacta you must select the 1st place horse and 2nd place horse in order, so a "3 horse box" puts each horse in each position with each of the other horses as follows: 1 + 2,1 + 3, 2 + 1, 2 + 3, 3 + 1, 3 + 2.
DOUBLE KEY
The DOUBLE KEY is when you play two seperate horses as equal win or win/place bets. Both are high reward types that imply risk as well as reward. Two horse PROPOSITION wagers are different, they have a high FREQUENCY expectation and you are expecting both to run well. The wager is calcultated on both parts running 1 and 2. In the case of the DOUBLE KEY they are more likely ot be split or one runs well and the other doesn't show up.
See PROPOSITION WAGER
If we evaluate a proposition over and over again, equity is the resulting profit or loss. Usually, we try to evaluate over the long run, (x of 100). So for example, if we bet $2.00 on every
TOP FORM HORSE (*) from March 7 - ApriL 30 at AQUEDUCT and SANTA ANITA we have a 10% positive equity. If we bet every top-ranked horse at over 2/1 at AQUEDUCT we have a positive equity and if we bet every top ranked horse at 3/2 or under we have a negative equity.
EXACTA
Picking the 1st and 2nd place finishers in a race in the exact order of finish.
The odds that equate to the expected frequency or probability of winning. If a horse is expected to win 1 out of 3 times, its FAIR PRICE is 2 to 1. If stated in $2.00 units, it cost 3 x $2.00 = $6.00 to bet all 3 in the example and if any of them win we get back $6.00. The FAIR VALUE is just the break-even price.
The number of time a horse is expected to win against the number times its expected to lose. If you had an evenly matched field of 10 horses, the expectation would be a horse would win 1 of 10 times. So its frequency is 1 out of 10. Of course this relates to our handicapped opinion.
- See FAIR PRICE
The most important term in betting, it means you have founf the horse that has enough appeal to be a win wager. In my approach it woudl have to have Top FORM, competitive POWER and a solid PRICE. It becomes the horse that I am playing.
See POP-OUT-KEY, KEYSTONE and SOLID SINGLE
KEYSTONE
Similar to a KEY or Solid Single, a horse used as the link between several different wagers. Such as the last half of the Daily Double and the first part of a PICK 2. The horse in question is the hub around which 2 seperate wagers are made. This horse shouold be an exceptional pick and too low to a price to make a simple win bet on. The reason for this is if the horse is that strong and a reasonable price, you should not mixed it with more mediocre betting ideas and take a chance on throwing it away. So if it has value, it then becomes a POP-OUT-KEY and should be handled is a simple manner. The KEYSTONE is a SOLID SINGLE used in two different wagers.
LONE or LOOSE
LONE or Loose relates to a horse having a single advantage, usually applied to early speed types. We might say a horse is LONE SPEED if think it is the only front runner or we might say the horse is LOOSE speed if we think it will shake loose in the early part of the race. I have added a new term called LONE 2. It is when comparing all the early speed types in a race and the fastest over the first 4 furlongs is doing the fastest running in the 2nd quarter of the race. Another new term is the LONE STAR or ASTERISK (*).
See ALONE,
If the player deems a horse to have a 33% chance of winning then the odds sould be 2 to 1. In this example an OVERLAY would be the exist if the horse was 3 to 1 or any amount higher than the 2 to 1 probability. An UNDERLAY would exist if the actual odds were lower than 2 to 1. See UNDERLAY, VALUE
- See EXACTA.
PICK 3
Picking the winner of 3 consecutive races. Each track designates the specific races that comprise the PICK 3. This bet is sometimes referred to as a triple bet, which could be confused with a trifecta.
PICK 6
Picking the winner of 6 consecutive races. The PICK 6 should not be played without a reasonable assurance of at least $25,000.00 in the pool.
POP-OUT-KEY
The POP-OUT-KEY is my basic play. It forms the most basic part of any betting system. (Note: Betting System is an article of 6/22/1998 in the Clubhouse Exchange.) The POP-OUT-KEY
Has these 3 components parts; Excellent Form, Competitve Power and a positve value price. The name speaks directly to the handicapping, the horse pops out at you. I separate the POP-OUT-KEY from the LONG-PRICED-PLAY because these plays tend to price out from 2 to 1 to 8 to 1. They are more measureable than the LONG-PRICED-PLAY as the occur more often. To my thinking the POP-OUT-KEY can be isolated at least once on almost every race card. Remeber, no play always wins, its just that our of a set of 100 they should return a profit.
A betting strategy that uses many horses in an exotic wager. Such as BOXING many horses in an exotic wager, similar to SPREADING. See SPREADING and BOXING.
SOLID SINGLE
A SOLID SINGLE is a horse you feel is outstanding but is lower odds than you believe represents it true probability. These horses can be used as part of a winning strategy, They should not be used as simple win bets.
Picking the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers in a race in the exact order of finish. Sometimes referred to as a TRIPLE, which can be confused with a PICK 3.
TRIPLE
- See TRIFECTA and PICK 3.
We generally talk about value in relative terms, we do not get too specific. Value is the difference between the price (odds) a horse is actually going off at and its frequency. If a horse has a expected frequency if 1 out of 10, then its FAIR PRICE would be 10 to 1. Odds of 11 to 1 or higher would then be VALUE (positive value or expectation). If the horse has odds of 10 to 1 it has NO VALUE, if the same horse has odds 9 to 1 or less, it has NEGATIVE VALUE.
( See FAIR PRICE, OVERLAY and UNDERLAY)
A WIN BASED betting system structures wagers to emulate a win bet or just simply be a win bet. For example a player might place one horse in the win position and use all the othew horse for second in an exacta in different denomination. If done correctly the horse has to win in order to collect on the wager.
The amount one collects may vary from the posted win odds, depending on the weighted amounts used to structure the bet.
However, the horse must always win in order for the player to win the bet. Generally the win bet and win based betting schemes are the most efficient, but tend to have longer losing streaks than does a win/place betting system.
WIN/PLACE BASED BETTING SYSTEM
This system allows for winning your bet , if the horse comes in 1st or 2nd. The straight win and place bet qualifies or a player could make a series of exacta boxes with every other horse in the race in differing denominations, such that the horse identified as the key only need to be 1st or 2nd to collect on the wager .