Off-track betting (OTB)
OTB means off-track betting: a bet on a horse race placed through a licensed outlet somewhere other than the track where the race is run. The bet usually goes into the same pool as the money bet at the track, and it is paid at the same price.
Three ways to bet from somewhere else
- An OTB parlor. A shop with screens, tellers and betting machines. When people say "the OTB", this is what they mean.
- Simulcast. A track, a casino or a bar that shows races from elsewhere and takes bets on them.
- Account wagering. The same bet made by phone or online through a licensed service.
In all three you are away from the race, and your money still reaches it.
One pool, wherever you bet
American racing is pari-mutuel. Bets of one type go into a pool, the track takes its share (the takeout), and the winners divide the rest; how to bet on horse racing has the full version. In most cases the money bet off the track is combined with the money bet at it.
Here is an example, with a takeout of 16 percent used for the arithmetic (the real figure varies by track and by bet, and the track publishes it). Say $80,000 is bet to win at the track's own windows and $120,000 is bet to win on the same race from off the track. The pool is $200,000, and the takeout leaves $168,000. If $42,000 was bet on the winner, each $1 gets back $4 and a $2 ticket pays $8.00, whichever window sold it.
Look at those two numbers again. At most tracks more money now comes from off the track than through the gates, so the off-track bettor is the main customer, and I'd say the tracks know it even if the grandstand doesn't show it.
It also means the odds on the screen at an OTB are the live odds from the track. They move until the race starts, and you are paid at the final price.
What can differ
The price is the same, but the shop isn't. Some outlets have taken a small percentage off winning tickets as a surcharge, so ask before you bet. Not every track or every type of bet is offered everywhere. A ticket is cashed where the outlet's rules say, and tickets expire, with a deadline that depends on the state. Minimum stakes and opening hours vary too.
Not the same as an offshore racebook
An offshore sportsbook with a racebook is not off-track betting. It usually keeps your bet itself, outside the track's pool, and pays track odds up to a cap written in its rules, so a big exotic payout at the track can be a much smaller one there. I'd want the pool, not the cap, on any ticket that could pay big.
Finding one
That depends on where you live. Some states have parlors, some have only account wagering, and some have neither. Your state's racing commission is the place to find the licensed outlets.
At the window, give the track first, because an OTB shows many tracks at once. Then the race, the amount, the type of bet and the horse's program number: the track's name, "fifth race, $2 to win on number 4." Check the ticket before you leave the window.
Six tracks on the screens
An OTB is a good place to learn. The stakes are small, the program is in front of you and nobody minds a beginner.
The hazard is the pace. At the track there is about half an hour between races, but with six tracks on the screens there is a race every five minutes, and every one of them looks like a chance to get even. I'd choose my races before sitting down and leave the rest alone, set a budget for the visit and go home when it is spent, and keep each bet small against the bankroll, 1 or 2 percent.
On the track or off it, the pool pays the same. The takeout is the same too.