Most bettors lose money at the track. This happens because they bet too much per race, chase losses, or ignore the discounts sitting right in front of them. The math behind horse racing favors the house through takeout rates, which means you start at a disadvantage before the gate even opens. Winning long term requires you to slow the bleeding when you lose and squeeze extra value when you win. Your bankroll is finite, and treating it otherwise is the fastest way to empty it.
Legal online wagering on horse racing operates under the Interstate Horseracing Act, which permits interstate betting as long as transactions comply with state laws. The New York State Gaming Commission, along with similar bodies in other states, regulates this activity. You can place bets through licensed platforms like TwinSpires, the online and mobile betting arm of Churchill Downs racetrack. These sites offer tools and programs that help you stretch your betting capital further than you could at a physical track window.
Set a Betting Unit Based on Your Total Bankroll
Your bankroll is the total amount of money you have set aside for betting. Every wager you place should be calculated as a percentage of this amount. A common guideline is to bet between 1% and 5% of your total bankroll per race. Professional gamblers tend to keep their bets closer to 2.5% of their bankroll on any single wager.
If you have $2,000 set aside for betting, a 2% unit size would be $40. You would risk $40 per race, no matter how confident you feel about a particular horse. This protects you from variance. Even the best handicappers hit cold streaks, and a fixed unit size prevents one bad afternoon from wiping out your capital.
Cutting Costs Without Cutting Stakes
Online platforms offer several ways to reduce what you spend while keeping your wagers intact. Rebate programs like those from AmWager return 2% to 5% cashback on all bets regardless of outcome, and some platforms push rebates on exotic wagers as high as 10%. Sign-up bonuses, first-deposit matches, and promo codes can save you money when you open accounts on licensed ADW sites. These small percentages add up over a full season of betting.
Stacking these discounts works best when paired with disciplined bankroll sizing. A 3% rebate combined with a half-Kelly staking approach softens losing streaks and extends your capital through dry stretches at the track.
Apply the Kelly Criterion Carefully
The Kelly Criterion is a mathematical formula for determining bet size. It calculates how much of your bankroll to wager by maximizing long term expected geometric growth rate. The formula requires you to estimate the probability of winning and compare it to the odds offered. When your edge is small, Kelly suggests a small bet. When your edge is large, it suggests more.
The problem is that most bettors overestimate their edge. If you miscalculate, full Kelly betting can lead to overbetting and rapid bankroll depletion. For this reason, many bettors use a fraction of the Kelly recommendation. Half Kelly is popular because it reduces volatility while still capturing most of the growth potential. If Kelly says bet 4% of your bankroll, you would bet 2% instead.
Pick Your Spots on Exotic Wagers
Straight bets like win, place, and show have lower takeout rates than exotic wagers such as exactas, trifectas, and superfectas. The trade-off is that exotic wagers pay more when you hit them. If you are going to play exotic bets, focus on races where you have strong opinions about multiple horses in the field.
Some platforms offer higher rebates on exotic wagers, sometimes up to 10%. If you have an edge in a particular race and the rebate is favorable, exotic bets can make sense. Otherwise, straight win bets preserve more of your bankroll over time because you are not paying as much to the track on every dollar wagered.
Track Everything You Bet
Keeping records lets you see patterns in your betting. You will know which tracks give you trouble, which bet types drain your bankroll, and which distances or surfaces suit your handicapping strengths. Without records, you are guessing about your own performance.
Use a spreadsheet or a notebook. Write down the date, track, race number, horse, bet type, amount wagered, odds, and outcome. At the end of each month, calculate your return on investment. If a particular bet type is losing money consistently, you have data to back up a decision to stop making that type of bet.
Resist the Urge to Chase Losses
A losing streak feels personal. The temptation is to increase bet sizes to win back what you lost. This almost always makes things worse. Larger bets during cold streaks accelerate losses, and the emotional state that comes with chasing rarely produces good decisions.
Stick to your unit size. If your bankroll shrinks, your unit shrinks with it. This keeps you in the game longer and gives you more opportunities to recover. The goal is to survive long enough for your edge, however small, to show up in the results.
Conclusion
Protecting your bankroll is more about discipline than handicapping skill. Bet small percentages of your total capital, take every rebate and bonus available, and track your results with precision. The Kelly Criterion offers a framework for sizing bets, but using a conservative fraction of it reduces the risk of ruin. Horse racing will always favor the house through takeout, so your job is to minimize that disadvantage and stay in action. A well-managed bankroll outlasts lucky streaks and bad beats alike.
