Hollywood Park, known as Betfair Hollywood Park for those that play the horses and use the casino, has now started its winter meet which runs from November 9 through December 16. Its operational days are from Thursday through Sunday of each week for live racing, and Monday through Wednesday for simulcast wagers in the casino.

Today I will discuss some important step by step instructions when visiting the track and playing the horses.

When you enter the track, pay your entry fee. You will receive a program with the number of the races and horse’s running in their particular race. To the right of the horses name, there will be a morning line handicapped odds of that particular horse: 2-1, 8-5, 10-1, etc. Once the betting starts, these odds may change drastically depending on whether horses are scratched from the race because of ailments or are simply unfit to run the race. These odds have been calculated by the track handicapper. All races are handicapped by age, weight and distance to create a condition where all the horses cross the finish line at the same time. This condition is known as
a dead heat, which seldom happens with two horses and rarely happens with three. Be sure to check the last page of your program for the wagering information.

When you enter the Grandstand, you will be looking for a place to make your bets, and you will see two types of betting stations. One is the live teller, and the other is the self-serve type machine. Once you have decided on the horses to bet, proceed to the window of your choice. Get there as early as possible to avoid the rush. The closer the start time of the race, the more people will be at the teller line. It is not a pleasant feeling when you miss a winning bet.

You will need someone to help you navigate through the self-serve machines be- cause they are not very self- explanatory. Once you learn to operate the self-serving machines, be sure to check your ticket for the correct bet and be extra careful to get your change out of the machine before you leave. Someone coming behind you will not be watching the balance on the machine and will enter their money to make a bet which will be added to your left-behind balance giving them more money than they realized.

When using the live teller to place a wager, the teller will be waiting for you to tell him or her which track, race, amount of the bet, type of bet and horse number.

Example: Give me Golden Gate Fields, 5th race, $2.00 win and place on number 6.
Once you get your ticket for your wager be sure to put it in a safe and easily accessible place in your pocket where you can find it after the race and remember to check to see if you have won.
Every year, hundreds of dollars are left on the grand- stand floors from people losing their tickets or forgetting they even have the ticket for a $6.00 win after they have seen their horse come in first at 20-1.

Winning tickets not cashed in within a six-moth time period goes to the state to operate the track.

An interesting tidbit about the Betfair Program: When you open the program to the races for the park, you will find information on each horse and a symbol a horse, turtle, hound, fox and rabbit which represents the style each horse likes to run. It will also tell you how many times these types of runners have won this distance of race. At the top of the same page, you will find three Handicappers who have picked their three best horses.

Choose at your leisure, bet with your head and not your heart (unless you just love the horse’s name.)

Lastly: Good Luck!