Betting on Horse Races in Arizona

You’ll want to assemble a group of several high-quality horse race sportsbooks to use for sports betting in Arizona. Using multiple horse racing sportsbooks will allow you to compare Horse-racing odds and make sure you’re getting the best deals every time.

While bettors can find many horse racing sportsbooks in Arizona, there are five horse race betting sites we think are the best. Our favorite sportsbooks were vetted thoroughly for security and reliability, so we can ensure you can trust them.

BetMGM horse race betting

BetMGM allows players to bet on thoroughbred, harness, and quarter horse races at more than 200 tracks across the globe. On May 28, 2021, BetMGM announced they would partner with NYRA Bets to bring horse racing to the platform.

PointsBet horse race bets

PointsBet announced its entrance to the American horse racing market in May 2021 too. Although PointsBet horse race betting is new to Arizona, the sportsbook has well-established horse race betting lines in Australia.

DraftKings horse racing

DraftKings offers free-to-enter horse race betting pools. To join one, you answer a few questions, like which horse will finish first or at what time. The more questions you answer correctly, the more you’ll win.

FanDuel horse race sportsbook

FanDuel offers live-streamed horse races, allowing you to watch for your wager’s outcome. Additionally, FanDuel features a different race track each day. If you bet on the featured track, you’ll receive a 10% bonus when you win wagers.

William Hill horse race lines

Although William Hill is a relative newcomer in Arizona, the sportsbook has serviced UK bettors for over half a century. With a free William Hill Rewards Club card, you can earn loyalty points to spend on race comps.

First of all, you should understand that horse race betting uses pari-mutuel wagering. In this system, sportsbooks pool together all the money bet on a race. Then, after deducting its cut, usually 10-30%, the sportsbook pays out all the pooled money to the bettors who won.

Pari-mutuel wagering means that the odds don’t reflect the actual probability that an outcome will occur. Instead, horse race betting odds depend on how many bets players place on each horse.

Before anyone bets, AZ based online gambling sites release morning line odds. These odds reflect how sportsbooks expect players to bet. Oddsmakers take several factors into account when calculating horse racing odds, including:

• Each horse’s strengths and weaknesses
• Which horses have high-speed indexes
• How consistently each horse wins
• Whether a horse is local or an outsider

Horse race betting odds are easy to read once you understand how. They represent the ratio of your profits to stake. Here are a few examples:

• 1-2 odds: Win $1 for every $2 wagered
• 1-1 odds: Win $1 for each dollar bet
• 5-1 odds: Win $5 for every dollar wagered
• 10-1 odds: Win $10 for every $1 bet

You may also see odds represented as whole numbers.

There are several types of horse race betting lines available through Arizona betting sites. While it’s a good idea to start with easier bets you’re confident you can win, you’ll want to diversify eventually.

Understanding the different types of horse race betting options allows you to maximize your earnings through bet variety. Are you ready to start learning about horse race betting types available in Arizona? And maybe place a bet on the Kentucky Derby? Let’s delve into how these wagers work.

AZ horse racing straight bets

Arizona horse racing offers three types of straight bets:

• Win: A wager on which horse will take 1st place
• Place: A wager on which horse will take either 1st or 2nd place
• Show: A wager on which horse will take 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place

Payout amounts don’t change regardless of whether a horse ranked first, second, or third. However, place and show bets tend to offer lower payouts due to the additional margin of error they afford bettors.

Still, players can make a pretty penny off long-shot outsiders. These horses tend to have higher odds and so can be rather profitable when they win. Since all they need to do is take third place, your wager stands a good chance.

Arizona horse racing across the board bets

In an across-the-board bet, players place win, place, and show bets on the same horse. Depending on how the horse finishes, the player may win all, some, or none of the wagers:

• 1st place finish: You win all three bets
• 2nd place finish: You win the place and show bets
• 3rd place finish: You win only the show bet
• 4th place or later finish: You lose all your bets

Some players choose to bet the same amount on all three bets. Unfortunately, depending on the odds, this means that even a third-place finish may still result in a net loss.

To prevent this, some bettors increase their stakes for their place and show bets. For example, you may wager $2 on win, $4 on place, and $6 on show.

AZ horse racing exotic bets

Most exotic bets are straightforward but still much trickier to win than straight bets. Aside from the quinella, exotic bets always require players to predict multiple outcomes accurately. If a single component of the prediction is wrong, the exotic bet fails.

There are quite a few different types of exotic bets available to Arizona players:

• Exacta: A wager on which horses will finish in 1st and 2nd place in order
• Quinella: A wager on which horses will finish in 1st and 2nd place in any order
• Trifecta: A wager on which horses will finish in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in order
• Superfecta: A wager on which horses will finish in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place in order
• Daily double: A bet on which horses will take 1st in two consecutive races
• Pick 3: A bet on which horses will take 1st in three consecutive races
• Pick 6: A bet on which horses will take 1st in six consecutive races

Horse racing boxing bets in Arizona

To increase your chances of winning something, you can box an exotic bet. Boxing a bet allows you to cover all possible finishing orders of your chosen horses. For example, if you boxed your trifecta on horses 1, 3, and 5, you would place bets on these outcomes:

• 1-3-5
• 1-5-3
• 3-1-5
• 3-5-1
• 5-1-3
• 5-3-1

With each additional horse, you’ll need to place more wagers to cover all the possibilities. Boxing bets can quickly become very expensive, but it will increase your chances of winning.

AZ horse racing quinella wheel

If you want to increase your chances of winning a quinella, you can choose between boxing or wheeling your bet.

Quinella wheels are beneficial for when you believe a particular horse will finish first or second. Then, you can pair that horse with others in a quinella wheel instead of picking just two horses.

You can decide to place a full wheel or a part wheel. For a full wheel, your chosen horse gets paired with every other horse. Meanwhile, part wheels involve just a select few horses. Therefore, part wheels are ideal when several of the other horses have low odds.

AZ horse racing trifecta key

Boxing a trifecta can be exorbitantly expensive. If you have certain horses you strongly feel will finish in particular places, you can key those horses. For example, you might choose a key horse that will finish first. Like with the quinella, you can do a full or part wheel.