Preakness Stakes Betting Websites

The Preakness Stakes is something of an anomaly to most American sports fans, as it is not nearly as famous outside horse racing circles as the much more popularly recognized Kentucky Derby despite the fact that the former is actually the older institution than the latter. Being run for the first time way back in 1873, the Preakness Stakes is older than the Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the prestigious Triple Crown series of horse races, and ranks as one of the preeminent grades stakes thoroughbred races anywhere in the world. Appropriately enough for a sporting event of this caliber, the interest from horseplayers in “The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans” is massive, and thus so is the interest in solid Preakness Stakes betting websites.

As seasoned horseplayers and newcomers to the hobby alike should have no problem understanding, legal offshore Preakness Stakes betting websites are kind of a “best of both worlds” situation for discerning gamblers looking to play the ponies in the Triple Crown. For one thing, there are numerous federal laws protecting exactly the kind of pari-mutuel betting activities offered by online racebooks – and yes, that includes wagering via the internet, per the year 2000 amendment to the Interstate Horse Racing Act of 1978 and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. Secondly, even in the states that have laws on the books prohibiting horse racing inside their borders do not usually specifically ban online wagering, which leaves plenty of legal wiggle room for Preakness States betting websites like Bovada, BetOnline, SportsBetting, BetDSI and 5Dimes, which we think are the best of the lot.

Each year since the race’s inception, the Preakness Stakes have been held at Pimlico Race Course, which is located just outside Baltimore, Maryland. The racetrack, famous all over the world as the “Old Hilltop” (so called – as a joke - because of the presence of a very small rise in the infield of the track) officially opened in 1870, and its most famous race - the Preakness Stakes - got its name from the winning horse of the track’s first race, the Dinner Party Stakes. To be fair, though a lot of the action on the Preakness Stakes does take place at legal offshore racebook sites, there is still a lot of betting that goes on at the races, so a quick rundown of the basic Pimlico Race Course Event information might be worthwhile from a horseplayer’s perspective.

The track itself at Pimlico Race Course is widely considered to be the least difficult in terms of length of the three meets in the Triple Crown series of races. As Grade 1 Stakes Races go, the dirt oval track – which has a length of just 1 mile (or 7 furlongs) is a good deal shorter than either the Kentucky Derby (1 ¼ mile) or the much longer Belmont Stakes (the last race of the Triple Crown and 1 ½ miles in length). That does not by any mean that the Preakness is not an exciting race – far from it! The shorter distance often creates an even more exciting spectacle in its own right as the finishing times are a good deal faster than any other race in the Triple Crown.

Pimilico Race Course has a maximum occupancy of a shade over 120,000 people, and that includes the standing room and all available spots in the infield and, as for the stables, more than 1,000 horses can crowd into the stalls at the track. You can bet that a huge proportion of that crowd (of people, not horses, of course) will have showed up just to bet on the Preakness Stakes. The track offers its horseplaying guest plenty of opportunities to wager on the big race, with pari-mutuel windows as well as off-track betting kiosks and simulcasts of other races, so there is really no reason why you shouldn’t lay some money down on your favorite horse in the field if you find yourself at the races at Pimlico.

There are several different wager types at Preakness Stakes racebooks for players to take advantage of, and a few of these options are exclusively available at online horse betting websites. The two primary divisions of wagers available at horse betting websites like Bovada, BetOnline, SportsBetting, BetDSI and 5Dimes are straight bets, such as win, place or draw bets, and exotic wagers, namely exactas, trifectas and superfectas. However, online racebooks like those we recommend for our readers also offer prop bets that you can’t get at a racebook actually based at the Pimlico Race Course or others tracks. Because proposition bets are not actually based strictly on the outcome of the “Race for the Black-Eyed Susans,” we will only discuss the first two main wager types used in betting on horse races.

Straight Bets

Win – A player bets on the horse he or she thinks will win the race. This is the simplest form of wagering on horses and races available across the board of Preakness Stakes betting websites and other betting outlets.

Place – A player picks a horse (or even several horses) to finish the race in either first or second place. This gives you a better chance to win your bet, but the payout will necessarily be less too.

Draw – A player picks a horse to (or a few different horses) to finish “in the money” – meaning your horse of choice may cross the line in either first, second or third place. Because you have a much greater chance of winning bets of this sort, you will have to make due with a lower possible payout.

Exotic Bets

Quinella – You pick any two horses that you think will finish first and second, regardless of the order.

Exacta – The players picks two horses, the same as above, but your choices will need to finish first and second in the exact order.

Trifecta – Similar to exacta betting, with trifecta betting, a bettor chooses three horses and they have to cross the line in first, second and third place in the specified order.

Superfecta – This type of wager can net a huge payoff for a successful bettor, but the chances of actually managing to do so are getting close to astronomical. You pick four horses and they have to finish in the exact order specified on your slip between the first, second, third and fourth spots.

Daily Double – Simply pick two horses to win two consecutive races. Much easier said than done, especially if the same horse is scheduled to race multiple times in one day. Can be combined with straight bets and other exotics for a massive possible payout.

Pick 3 – You pick a horse and that steed has to win three consecutive races. Also available are Pick 4, Pick 5 and Pick 6 betting lines, and they all work the same way except the number of consecutive wins goes up, and the odds get much, much longer at your legal Preakness Stakes betting website of choice.