First, do you understand the tote board or even know where it is? It's the big old sign-type of thing probably across from where you're sitting with all sorts of numbers and horse names on it. You really can't miss it. On the tote board, you will see the odds for each horse and don't confuse odds with how much you'll win if your horse wins. For instance if the horses odds are 7-5, that means you will get $7.00 bucks for every five dollars you bet'20-1 will mean $20 bucks for every dollar you bet?you get the idea. Keep in mind that almost all horse tracks will have a two-dollar minimum bet. Numbers on the tote board are usually rounded off, so pay attention to that too.



To figure the exact odds on your horse, you need to look further at that tote board, basically total win pool and amount bet on the horse. The total win pool is what everyone sitting at the track has bet on your horse (yes, more than one person can bet on a horse). Don't forget this isn't the amount you win if the horse wins'it is just all the money riding on that horse. Next, there is a thing called ?the take.? Yep, that's what is ?taken? away from that horses winnings and shoved not into your and your fellow betters' pockets. Different tracks have different takes but usually range between a healthy 14-20%. We think it should be more like 5%, but we don't own the tracks and someone has to pay taxes, and track upkeep?basically you?through your betting, but we move on.

Finding your exact odds is easy. You can do this in your head if you're good at head-math. Or, you can bring a trusty calculator with you like we do. First, subtract the track's take from the total pool and then subtract the amount bet on your horse and you'll have the exact amount of cash the horse will payout. But wait, we're not done yet. After that, you have to divide! Divide that last payout figure by the amount you bet on your horse and you will have the exact odds on your horse! Whew, can you believe some people do this in their head? If you can't really understand this all by reading it, here's a chart!

Total pool amount: $900.00

Total bet on horse: $300.00

Take amount: 15%

Here's the math now:

$900 minus 15% = $765.00

$765 minus $300.00 = $465.00

$465 divided by $300.00 gives you a whopping $1.55!

Maybe you should bet just a tad more if you want to make more. But we used this example so it wouldn't strain the old brain. If you're still confused, again don't fret and visit the experts at Bet America at: http://www.betamerica.com.