One of the best exercises to develop your handicapping skills is with the self-directed rolling parlay. “What?” you ask. No, it is not a new IRA or 401k applied to horse racing. It is a method of playing the races on a budget and at the same time testing your handicapping ability on a full or partial race card in many different conditions.
You may want to play your continuous parlay with your best picks in Pick Threes, Pick Fours, Pick Fives, Pick Sixes and even Place Pick Nine’s. Several race tracks now offer Place Pick Nine’s for as little as a one dollar bet. If you are just learning, your budget is limited and you want to enjoy the thrill of horse racing, this is a great way to play without sacrificing all your funds.
Place Pick Nine or Place Pick All are now offered at several tracks, including Arlington Park, Hawthorne Race Course, and Hollywood Park. You will first put a handicap on all your races for your place pick nine bets, choosing a horse you hope to finish first or second. Using the selections you made, you would place a Show bet on each horse before the start of each race. After each race, the winnings will be posted to the exchange, then you’ll cash in your ticket and wager a show on your selection in the next race. Based on your winnings, increase the amount of your next bet by one dollar.
For example, in race #1, your horse finishes second for $3.50 in show money. Then he would bet three dollars to show his selection for Race #2. If his horse ends up out of the money, then he would reduce his bet on the show to two dollars. If your horse ends up in the money, he will go back to the three dollar show bet he placed in race #3. Continue to do this throughout the race card. As the winnings accumulate, move up to a four dollar exhibition bet, maxing out at a five dollar exhibition bet.
To get an idea of how it works, let’s examine a recent Place Pick raid made during the Arlington Park meeting in the summer of 2010. [SH = Show wager. (1st) = finish position of horse selected. Earn = for $2.00 wager. Ext. = Extrapolating the wager. Bal. = Running balance of funds].
Race 1 #6 Lots of Jack. $2 SH (3rd) Earn $3.40. Ball. $3.40
Race 2 #5 Terminal One. $3 SH (1st) Earn $3.20. Outside $4.60. Ball.$5.00
Race 3 #6 Lovely Daisy. $3 SH (1st) Earn $3.20. Outside $4.60. Ball. $6.60
Race 4 #6 Atticus Christy. $3 SH (2nd) Earn $2.20. Outside $3.30. Ball. $6.90
Race 5 #2 Cool C Note. $4 SH (2nd) Earn $2.80. Outside $5.60. Ball. $8.50.
Race 6 #6 Scarce. $4 SH (2nd) Earn $3.60. ext. $7.20. Ball. $11.70.
Race 7 #1 Loves to Fly $4 SH 7th Place Ext. $0.00. Ball. $7.70.
Race 8 #10 Silent Candy $2 SH (3rd) Win $6.40. ext. $6.40. Ball. $12.10
Race 9 #1 Battle Buster $3 SH (1st) Earn $2.60. ext. $3.90. Ball. $13.00.
While we didn’t win the Place Pick Nine, we did net a $13.00 win for the day while keeping our original $20.00 bankroll. As you can see, continuous parlay can help you assess how your handicap is doing. Make adjustments on your next outing. It’s clearly a fun way to play and teaches serious discipline.
As mentioned above, you may want to apply the self-directed rolling show parlay to Pick Three, Pick Four, Pick Five, and Pick Six to prepare for a handicap challenge. Other ways to apply this betting technique could go beyond playing a single track race card. Try multi-track Saturday betting that covers multiple races or even a multi-track with specific conditions, for example all seven furlongs. The goal here is to improve your handicapping skills, have fun on a tight budget, and hopefully make a little coin.
With a continuous show bet, you can budget as little as two dollars for each race and one dollar for the Place Pick Nine bet. If a lot of your horses end up in the prize, you could go home with a few extra bucks. At the same time, you will have fun and improve your handicap skills while playing the races.