HOW TO BET
Any questions on placing a wager? Our friendly mutuel tellers can answer any questions you may have about betting. Mutuel windows are located on the first, second and third floors plus outside on the apron. There are also plenty of self-serve machines close at hand on all floors.
THE DOWNS’ GUIDE TO WAGERING
Betting the ponies is not as difficult as many think. It just takes a little time and experience. The following information is designed to assist the casual race fan and the newcomer with the terms and strategies used in horse racing.
PARI-MUTUEL WAGERING
A French term, meaning, “Wagering amongst ourselves.” So horseracing fans are wagering against each other, not the racetrack.
When you place a wager, the track merely “handles” the bet, and places the money into a betting pool, computes the odds based on all the amounts wagered on the individual horses, and of course pays off the winners according to those odds.
Each type of bet has its own pool and the track receives a commission for handling the wagers. The commissions are used to pay the Pari-Mutuel tax, the Purses, The NM Breeders’ Association, The NM Horsemen’s Association and The Downs. The rest (usually around 80%) gets paid out as winnings.